DOHA, February 9,2016
-Like
two estrangedfraternalsiblings, Qatar and China have more in common than they may care to
admit.

Both boast of the world's fastest growing economies, are undergoing
massiveinfrastructure
development and have now realised the power of sport in building nations,
changing perceptions and igniting an economy.

It's a ship Tencent Sport, a new key partner of AIPS, wants to catch
before it sails.

Tencent Holdings has already gained a reputation of being theleader in internet provision in China,
but now is stepping outside its home borders, aiming to lead the way in sport.

The tech giantwas
one of the key speakers at AIPS Congress here in Doha where, just like China,
sport is at the eve of a new takeoff.

“Sports is growing in leaps and bounds and
they say if you miss China you might miss the world," said Tencent Sport
Senior Development manager Wenjuan He, beforesharing the company's experience
in the sports industry and hopes to boost it through a connectivity strategy.

"This is an opportunity for us to expand our influence. China has
been morphing into a sports country, and more people have found the need to
show off their sports moment on social media, where our platforms have been
doing well.

"China recently hosted the Olympics in 2008, and is set to host the
FIBA basketball tournament in 2019, the 2022 Winter Olympics, the F1 Grand Prix
and more - a sign that the sports industry is growing in China’s sports.

"But currently China has 0,6 percent market share of sports on the
GDP as of 2012, so the industry has plenty of space to grow and we hope to fill
this void by connecting everything on our strong platforms.

Tencentwas recently ranked 11th on the 2015 top
100 most valuable Goal Brands with
apple technology topping that list.

"We are actually number one in China in
terms of offering various platforms," He says.

"It's safe to say that each person using the internet isusing one or more Tencen services
knowingly or unknowingly."

The tech giant recently teamed up withDISNEY to cover sports games in China -- with Mandarin-language commentary.

They are currently theexclusive digital partner with NBA, broadcasting more than 1500 live
broadcasts per season.

With Qatar set to host the 2022 World Cup, Tencent hopes they will
give a front seat row to their consumers.